Learning music comes naturally to some people, where they can pick it up and have an easy time learning and understanding. Additionally, some have a great ear for music and are able to play songs with ease. However, not everyone is provided such gifts, and even those that have a great ear would benefit from learning the fundamentals of music theory. Here are some basics in a theory guide to help you get started.
Tempo And BPM
Tempo is the pace of a song. It can be either fast or slow, of course in relativity. A beat is a standard unit of time in music. Tempo is measured in beats per minute or BPM. The higher the BPM, the faster the tempo and the faster the song. This is important to consider for pacing when you are trying to play in harmony with others, or in music production where you have different instrument sounds and are trying to match them with each other to create synchronicity. Drummers and other rhythm instruments are often tasked with keeping this consistent tempo, and DJs will need to consistently match BPM on their playlists and mixes to create a seamless transition between songs.
Time Signatures
The concept of time signatures expands on the previously explored concepts of tempo. You will use this in order to determine how to count your music. Utilizing fractions, you will measure the beats that you will find in each individual bar as the top number, while the bottom number in the fraction will signify the length of the note to count. An example of the most common time signature looks like 4/4 and means there are four quarter notes to account for. Keep in mind, this is shown this way specifically for music purposes, and unlike math, would not be reduced to 1. The importance of time signatures breaks down to organization and creating an easy identify the structure for musicians to understand and be able to play.
Frequencies And Notes
A note consists of a pitch of a sound and its duration. A pitch refers to the frequency of the sound, which translates to how high or low the note is. The frequencies are more commonly known and associated with the letters A through G, creating what most musicians will feel familiar with as notes. The notes will then repeat, just in different In a single octave, there are 12 notes to account for. These include sharps and flats as well. Grasping the basics of notes is your first step in musical notations. This is important because you have to be able to read music in its written form in order to properly play music if you cannot reasonably memorize entire songs, and when you also want to create pieces of your own. When you are first learning music and instruments, learning the piano provides a strong foundational basis, as the notes are aligned in order.
Sharps And Flats
Sharps and flats are unique types of notes used to reference when you play certain notes a semitone or a half step higher or lower. For sharps, the semitone is higher, while the flat denotes a lower played half step. When it comes to sheet music, sharp is indicated by the # while a flat is indicated by ♭. On a piano, you will find sharps and flats easy to identify as they are the black keys. Keep in mind, sharps and flats can share the same keys, since they are either one semitone higher or lower than a root note. For example, a C sharp is also known as the D flat. Both are correct and used, depending on the situation or key that a piece or song is in.
Octaves
An octave is used with notes that are of the same frequency but played at different speeds, creating different sounds. They are the distance from one note to the next same note, either lower or higher. Octaves separate the groups of notes by their pitch, as you will notice a significant difference in notes played from different octaves, as they have easily distinguishable pitches from one another.
Chords
Chords are multiple notes played in harmony at the same time. The most common note is composed of three notes, creating what is known as a triad. Triads are often the most common note you will find, hear, and play. A chord is named after its root note or the note that you start with when you are playing your chords.
Before you progress in any learning environment where the material can be complicated, it is important that you always begin with the basics. This is the same for learning music, as the theory and fundamentals are important to build before you proceed to more in-depth learning.
